This disclosure generally relates to cable assemblies and components thereof, for example fiber optic cable assemblies. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to strain relief components within fiber optic connectors used to form fiber optic cable assemblies.
Optical fibers are useful in a wide variety of applications, including the telecommunications industry for voice, video, and data transmissions. In a telecommunications system that uses optical fibers, there are typically many locations where fiber optic cables that carry the optical fibers connect to equipment or other fiber optic cables. To conveniently provide these connections, fiber optic connectors are often provided on the ends of fiber optic cables. The process of terminating individual optical fibers from a fiber optic cable is referred to as “connectorization.” Connectorization can be done in a factory, resulting in a “pre-connectorized” or “pre-terminated” fiber optic cable, or the field (e.g., using a “field-installable” fiber optic connector).
Regardless of where installation occurs, a fiber optic connector typically includes a ferrule held within a housing by a ferrule holder. Each of the ferrule, ferrule holder and housing are generally constructed from a relatively rigid material so that the fiber optic connector can withstand a variety of forces during handling and use without affecting the optical connection that may be or has been established. Having rigid components, however, presents design challenges elsewhere. For example, fiber optic cables upon which fiber optic connectors are installed are typically much less rigid than the connector bodies of the fiber optic connectors. The rapid transition from low stiffness to high stiffness may result in stress concentrations where the cable or portions thereof become fixed to rigid elements of the connector, such as the ferrule. In some cases, stress concentrations can cause optical attenuation (loss of signal strength) or mechanical degradation of the optical fiber.
To address the above-mentioned challenge, a fiber optic connector often includes a strain relief device within the housing. There is a desire for a new strain relief device and method that can accept and secure cables across a wide range of diameters with the same set of strain relief device components while inhibiting concerns of stress concentrations in the fiber or over- or under-compressing the fiber or cable.